Irony: Sebourn Pays Price For Booze Peddlers’ Map
UPDATE: As Mr. Fullerton Rag correctly points out Jesus Silva is not up for re-election in 2018. He was elected to a 4 year term last fall. If District 3 were on the ballot in 2018 then Silva would have to resign his current seat (and term) to run in 3 as a non-incumbent or he would have to move to a different district to keep his job in 2020. I think I have that right.
Mr. P.
Councilman Greg Sebourn lives no where near Councilman Jesus Silva. And yet thanks to the gerrymandered district map cooked up by the downtown bar owners to dilute a single voting block downtown the two find themselves both in District 3. And that’s because the map was approved by the City Council – including Greg Sebourn.
So what’s the problem? Sebourn is up for reelection in 2018 and Silva just got elected. If District 3 were chosen as a district open for elections next year then Sebourn could run against Silva as an incumbent. But if District 3 were not up in 2018 then Sebourn would have to move to a district that was in order to keep his job.
Drum roll: in a 3-2 vote last night the council decided that District 2 (where Doug “Bud” Chaffee resides) and District 5 (where no council persons currently live) would be up for election in 2018. Chaffee and Silva were joined by Bruce Whitaker in this strategy. So Sebourn has no place to sit when the music stops in 2018.
Since this vote will be seen as deliberately undermining a fellow Republican and erstwhile ally, Whitaker’s got some explaining to do. Was this a quid pro quo for Jesus Silva’s unusual support of Whitaker to retake his place on the OC Water District Board? That’s what some cynical folks around town are saying, and the suspicion fits the facts.
Personally, I’ll be glad to get rid of Sebourn, who, frankly just isn’t very smart and isn’t very principled. And that’s a bad combination. Since his election in the 2012 Recall he has been an almost complete disappointment, trying to please everybody and in the end making no one happy.
Yep. Good riddance. The last straw for me was he thanked that idiot Felz for his service – a completely unnecessary and unearned compliment. Sebourn just had to be part of the party.
Schmuck.
Yep, I don’t think Whitaker will have any explaining to do. Not about this anyway. Adios Greg.
How about Fitzgerald proposing first 3 and 5? It was one of the few times rookie Silva knew what was going on
It wasn’t rocket science.
I think it bears remembering that Whitaker and Sebourn did both vote no on all pay increases and water rate increases in the last four years, and now we’re going to have to find two City Council candidates in 2018 to stop the giveaway instead of just one.
I wonder how Greg would have voted if his vote really mattered.
They couldn’t stop any of that stuff, so why does it even matter? The only constraint on the giveaway is the lack of funds.
At least lame duck Greg doesn’t have to worry about pissing off the cops anymore.
What district does Kitty Jaramillo live in? https://i.imgsafe.org/ea6c993e04.jpg Or does she even care about this whole mess?
The real question is; Which District does Tony Bushala live in?
Why is that the “real question?”
She lives west of Harbor if memory serves (I almost accidentally knocked on her door during my campaign) which would place her in Bruce Whitaker’s district. That may be part of the reason she was so opposed to the Popov map.
I figured Fitzgerald would try to get rid of Whitaker by putting that district on the ballot in 2018. And she probably would have if she had 3 votes. The deal between Silva and Whitaker may have been mutual self-preservation and had nothing to to do with a quid pro quo for the water district job.
“If District 3 were chosen as a district open for elections next year then Sebourn could run against Silva as an incumbent. ”
How could he run against Silva? Silva was elected to a four year term. How could that term be legally truncated by two years? If it is legal to do so, then then all three members elected in 2016 should have their terms similarly truncated, -and ALL if the council seats should be up for election in 2018.
No council member should be considered to have been elected to be representing a specific district now, just because they happen to live in one defined by the adopted map.
“It should t matter.
You are correct. He could run as an incumbent. Silva would have to move in 2020.
Greg’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t know how to stand up to bureaucratic bullshit.
He tries too hard to get along with everybody. I can’t tell you how many times a member of the public gets up there and rightfully questions something the City does BADLY. Greg tosses a softball at some department head for an answer, gets an equally BAD excuse or obfuscation of the truth, and what does Greg do? He says thank you and makes a motion for a vote.
Hope somebody tells Greg just how dishonest City staff is to him. The only way to stop this is to give the department heads enough rope to hang themselves with their own lies. Let them talk away and listen closely while they’re doing it. The acute listener will be able to detect their lies rather easily. That never happens so long as Greg is satisfied with half-truths or no truth at all.
100% accurate. They all do it. But Whitaker and Sebourn are supposed to know better. They always leave the citizen hanging out to dry even after that person has bravely (and accurately, often) called out the City.
I’m not going to miss Sebourn at all.
It’s impossible to mind-read but I think you are right about Sebourn’s weak personality and desire to please everybody. I also think he’s not too bright.
You are right. I saw his passivity last Tuesday. I don’t remember Sebourn raising a single question on the Jamboree deal. By the way, I’ve been looking for the Jamboree tentative agreement which was discussed at last council meeting and couldn’t find it. Anyone has a link to it?
Jamboree Housing used to be a Pringle client. Are they still? Did any one question Fitzgerald on this?
She recused herself for that item.
She recused herself but even so it is not a desirable situation. If she had good conscience she would choose between being a city council member or working for Pringle
Looks like another Imbriano run in 2018
Looks like they set it up perfect for a return of those Imbriano signs.
That barf one remains a mystery to me.
To correct the update Silva wouldn’t need to resign to run 2018 against Sebourn had heir district been put up. The city never even bothered to consider the legality of making that a requirement. Silva could have run and had Greg beat him then Silva would have run out the clock until 2020 when he would have been termed out lest he move.
I think that point would need a clarification legally. It’s really the same office. Still, the possibility is intriguing – getting a free shot at the district. However now Silva doesn’t need to do anything.
Actually, the City screwed up the whole process so badly you have to wonder if the whole thing wasn’t an intentional stall by all five of them.
Anaheim actually did it right – if only under duress. Within two yeas they started electing district reps.
The analysis in the agenda item matches Mr. Ferguson’s interpretation.
He doesn’t understand the big picture but it is worth noting that the contracts will be up again and we will get what we want. How do you like your new city manager?
Silva will do exactly what he was put up there to do. He is there to make sure the community remains safe and city government keeps running smoothly. Sammy will do likewise.
If he proposes a sales tax increase to pay for our Hero-created Pension Crisis he will be recalled – right alongside Fitzgerald.
Who, or what is a “Sammy?”